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Saturday, July 20, 2013

The Others–vampires,
werewolves, things that go chomp in the night–don’t just live in nightmares
anymore. They’ve joined with the mortal world. And for private investigator
Shiarra Waynest, that means mayhem…

Have a one night stand
with a vampire, and you can end up paying for it for eternity. P.I. Shiarra
Waynest, an expert on the Others, knows that better than most. Yet here she is,
waking up beside charismatic vamp Alec Royce with an aching head…and neck.
Luckily, Shia has the perfect excuse for getting out of town–namely, a couple
of irate East Coast werewolf packs who’d like to turn her into a chew toy.

On Royce’s suggestion,
Shia temporarily relocates to Los Angeles. But something is rotten–literally–in
the state of California, where local vampires are being attacked by zombies.
Who could be powerful enough to control them–and reckless enough to target the
immortal? Following the trail will lead Shia to a terrifying truth, and to an
ancient enemy with a personal grudge…

**********************************

Forsaken by the Others is not a book that reads as a standalone. People who pick it up should most definitely be
up to date and ready to jump right in.
It starts right from where Stalking
the Others ends. If you have not
read any of the other books in the H&W
Investigations series…Do Not Pass Go. Turn right around and get caught up
first.

I apologize right from the
start. This might be a spoiler and trust
me I’m not a fan of them, but you can read any other review and it was said
long before me; no, no, and NO!! I was
glad I missed the cliffhanger from one of the prior books, because I was late to
the series and had to play catch-up. I’m
very disappointed that this one ended in yet another one. Cliff hangers are not cool, especially when
another book is not even on the horizon yet and this book was about a year from
the last one. This was my biggest
complaint, but I have other points that bugged me. Leave me wanting, but not like this.

While I enjoyed the book,
there was very little forward movement in the plot. Yes, you seen a bit of Shiarra’s “problem”
manifest, but no reasons why or what. Yes,
a character is healed, but we didn’t even know there was a problem to begin
with. So she hid out in California. Not sure if I really understand the
reasoning, but there we are. Now she is
there and it seems none of the issues in New York are going to be resolved and
she has left TONS of them behind. Several
factions were introduced and I feel they were barely utilizes to their fullest
potential. I can pretty much say that
most of the main characters are new additions and seem to be sticking around
for a while. Not sure how I feel about
that yet. I missed the “oldies” and
wanted to read more about them. Bummer.

Shiarra actually
transgressed in her kick-ass heroine status in my opinion. She was rather weak and well “human” in the beginning
novels. She rocked my world in the last
one, but after all is said and done; we are back to square one. I will say that she is coming off a very traumatic
month and anyone would curl up into a little introspective ball, but she was so
darn awesome last book. Again – Bummer.

I know it sounds like I
didn’t like the novel, I did enjoy the read, but in its addition to the series,
I didn’t. Some good points are that we got
to see what happened with Royce. Sara
and Shiarra are reunited, along with some memorable White Hats. The story clipped right along. There were also some scenes that had me
chucking. I really love when a book
makes me laugh.

Ms. Haines wrote a great book,
but left me wanting. I really hope we
see progression in the next novel. I’m
still looking forward to next book. I
hope the wait isn’t too long. I really
enjoy her writing style and the H&W
Investigations series. This is the
kind of urban fantasy that I enjoy; fantastic paranormal world setting,
interesting characters and amazing storytelling. Keep it up Ms. Haines!

Read my review of book four in the H&W Investigations series.

THREE BOOK GIVEAWAY!!

Yes, this giveaway is for three books.Kensington is giving away the first book in the series, Hunted by the Others and I am giving away my plain cover ARC's of Stalking the Others AND Forsaken by the Others.

By entering the giveaway you are agreeing to the terms outlined in the Rafflecopter widget.

I absolutely love urban fantasy. What is better than vampires, shape-shifters and other paranormal entities running around in an urban setting? So much fun :) Most of my favorite authors are considered urban fantasy.

I love it! Having it set in an urban setting makes it more fun and easier to get lost in believing it could really be happening. And of course the fantasy is what makes it so much fun to read! Nothing better than paranormal creatures running around getting into trouble in the urban settings. :)